Governor Newsom’s signature on Assembly Bill 276, a bill eliminating a potential tax trap for Californians needing to borrow from their employer-sponsored retirement plan during the COVID-19 pandemic, was heralded by the Entertainment Union Coalition (EUC), comprised of the California IATSE Council, Laborers Local 724, Teamsters Local 399 and SAG AFTRA.
“In these difficult times, our members across California need access to their retirement funds to support themselves and their families during the current COVID pandemic. AB 276 will allow them to do that without incurring a penalty or unintended income tax payments,” a statement from the EUC read. “We thank the Governor and the bill’s author, Assembly Member Laura Friedman, for their support of working people statewide. We are glad that our concern for our members has led to protection for working women and men in similar circumstances throughout the State.”
The legislation, which passed through the California legislature with unanimous support, put California in conformity with provisions in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which removes penalties and improves access for those needing to take a loan from their employer-sponsored defined contribution plan. While California automatically conformed to some provisions of the CARES Act, it did not with others, creating the possibility that Californians taking a loan from their qualified retirement plan that met the requirements of the CARES Act could find themselves facing a tax penalty and unintended tax consequences for California state purposes. AB 276 rectifies that situation by fully conforming California law to the CARES Act with regard to the tax treatment of such loans.
The EUC members became aware of this potential problem very early in the pandemic. When the California economy shut down in early March, the entertainment industry went from close to 100% employment to close to 100% unemployment. Consequently, many entertainment industry workers turned to their employer sponsored defined contribution plans (which are labor-management ERISA plans) to support themselves and their families. Since mid-March those plans have seen thousands of members withdraw millions in loans from the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans.
The concern was that these members, thinking tax penalties had been removed under the CARES Act, would find themselves suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with a California tax penalty for their loan withdrawal. EUC immediately sought to work with Assemblywoman Friedman, the members of the California Legislature and Governor Newsom, to ensure this “trap for the unwary” would not happen.
AB 276 became effective immediately upon the Governor’s signature and applies to loans from an employer sponsored qualified retirement plan during the 180-day period beginning on March 27,2020.
Apple’s iPhone sales during the holiday season slipped despite a highly anticipated AI rollout
Apple on Thursday disclosed its iPhone sales dipped slightly during the holiday-season quarter, signaling a sluggish start to the trendsetting company's effort to catch up to the rest of Big Tech in the race to bring artificial intelligence to the masses.
The iPhone's roughly 1% drop in revenue from the previous year's October-December period wasn't entirely unexpected, given the first software update enabling the device's AI features didn't arrive until just before Halloween, and the technology still isn't available in many markets outside the U.S.
The countries still awaiting Apple's AI suite include China, a key market where the company continued to lose ground. Although he didn't mention China, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors on a conference call that a software upgrade enabling the AI features in more European markets, as well as Japan and Korea will be rolling out in April.
But in the past quarter Apple also was only able to eke out a modest revenue gain across its entire business, although the results came in ahead of the analyst projections that guide investors. The Cupertino, California, company earned $36.3 billion, or $2.40 per share, a 7% increase from the previous year. Revenue edged up from the previous year by 4% to $124.3 billion.
Those numbers included iPhone revenue of $69.1 billion. In China, Apple's total revenue registered $18.5 billion, an 11% decrease from the previous year.
Part of that erosion in China reflected the iPhone's shrinking market share in that country, where homegrown companies have been making more headway. Apple's iPhone year-over-year shipments in China declined nearly 10% in the most recent quarter, while native companies Huawei and Xiaomi posted year-over-year increases of more than... Read More